Zoning the Echus Chasma Region on Mars for Settlement Location Selection according to Topographic and Surface

This study proposes zoning for one of the regions called Echus Chasma on Mars, aiming to open the discussion on selecting the settlement locations for Mars urban planning. The literature on Mars architecture has been an important discussion topic and is increasing in the architecture discipline. On the other hand, planning the Mars areas must be another research focus to understand spatial organization on an urban scale. The Echus Chasma region is selected for the Mars surface's zoning tasks. This selection is because it is considered a past water source region of Mars, and habitable spaces on Mars must also consider the possible water supply. The study applies the Gaussian mixture model algorithm to predict the zones in the region. The features in clustering for zones are selected as slope and aspect direction, which are directly related to the topographical features. Results show that the Echus Chasma region has twelve zones according to the given features, and zone 4, located on the west side of the Echus Chasma Valley, is the best candidate for settlement within the scope of this research. The result of the study can only be hypothetical as there are a vast number of parameters to define the zones that are not included within the scope of this study; however, the study contributes to the literature and future works with its methodology.